The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-28
NIGHT PROVIDERS OF THE AIR.
The Night-Hawk or Bull-Bat Which Affords
City Sportsmen Good Target Practice.

Almost any evening about shutdown, at this
season of the year, can be seen bird with q
body about the size of yellow-hammer. but
with an unusually large spread of wings. dart
ing hither and thither, over tree-tops and houses
and again swooping with graceful curve almost
to the street as it pursues with extended mouth
its retreating insect prey This is the night
hawk or bull-bat 1t belongs to the family of
goat suckers (caprim al gde), of which. perhaps
the best known are the whip-poor-will of the
North and the chuck-wills- widow of the South
ern States, so-called because their cry has a
fanced resemb lance to the names given them.
Ages ago the superstitious peasantry of Europe
firmly believee that these birds were in
the habit of sucking their goats, and hence
the name given this interesting group of inses-
Sores but that the bull bat his relatives do not
practice what the peasants of old believed they
did is not the fault of its mouth. It is as large
as its head is broad This notion however, has
long since been dsproven by naturalists who
have studied its manner of life, both the wing
and in its silent home in the recesses of the for
where il spends it's days in sleep and ideness.
1t has always been a mystery to most
people where this nocturnal scavenger
lives and breeds They
by hundreds in the evening, nearly always
flying in the direction of the city, but rarely
met with In the day time and then only by
accident Audubon tells us that they sleep
either on the ground or on the limb of tree,
but that they take the precaution to sit length
wise and not across the limb other birds
wont TO do. This little trick. with their color
which closely resembles the bark of
tree. doubt accounts for the fact
that they seldom Besides being
one Of the most graceful of American birds
the wing. it is also pretty one, with it's notified
black, brown, gray and tawny plumage top,
and its black and pale white barred breast. It's
throat is marked with large white or tawny
crossbar, while it's tail is blackish with distinct
pale marbled cross bars Underneath the wings
is a large white spot which can be plainly seen
il scars aloft. Its body is about inches long
and its wings have a spread of sixteen to twenty
inches. The head is the most striking feature
however This is usually inch broad and fiat
tened; eyes and ears large; bill extremely small,
depressed, and triangular when viewed from
above. The cape of it's mouth is simply enor-
nous and extends clear around to the back part
of the head. The bristles surrounding the mouth
frequently attain a wonderful development.
Sportsmen consider them an excellent target
for shotgun practice, and drive to the COM
mons the outskirts of the city half hour be-
fore dark will give him an opportunity to test
his skill Some people eat them and consider
them a delicacy. but rule they killed
simply for sport They very tenacious of
life and when only wounded. hiss and snap at
everything that comes in their way savagely
as an old gander defending its family.